Page 90 of Touched By Death

“The fuck?” he chokes out before a short burst of harsh, incredulous laughter rips from his lips. When he looks at me, all traces of humor evaporate like a morning mist. With a jab of his finger in the direction of the wall, he says tersely, “I did not do this!”

“Then who, Dmitriy? Who else knows about these passageways?”

“Everyone!” he shouts. “Everyone knows. It’s what the servants use to get around.”

“The servants?”

“Have you never wondered why you never see them?”

Tears spring to my eyes the longer he glares at me. The truth is that I have wondered.

“Have you forgotten that Lucifer is my uncle? While my father and uncle despise each other, they are civil enough. I know this house like the back of my hand, and so does Daemon.”

“Why would you use the passageways?”

“I was tracking you. Do you think Daemon would take kindly to me being around you? Especially after sex? Come on, Aurelia. You’re an angel. You know better. Males are the most possessive right after a claiming.”

I look away but then squeeze my eyes shut when I’m met by hundreds of photographs of myself. “I want to get out of here,” I whisper into the silence.

Stepping closer, his boots sink into the mattress, and he corners me against the wall. With an almost impossible gentleness, so in contrast with how the masked stalker forced himself on me, he strokes his fingers through the tears on my cheeks. “It pains me that you have so little trust in me.”

“I don’t trust anyone anymore,” I admit, opening my eyes.

A muscle tics in his jaw, and with a final sigh, he steps away and musses up his hair at the front. “You’re smart.” His dark eyes find mine. “You shouldn’t trust anyone but yourself.”

As urgent footsteps sound in the hallway, I swipe at my cheeks. “I don’t even trust myself. Not while the shadows are with me.”

“They always will be.”

“You should go,” I tell him when he scans the photographs. “Escape while you can.”

Dmitriy looks at me, and I decide to trust the vulnerability that shines through the darkness that peers back at me.

“They’ll come to the same conclusion I did if they find you here.”

With a shake of his head, he replies, “I’ll face my cousin if it makes you feel safer.”

“They’ll kill you. Contract or no contract.”

“Do you believe I did this?” he asks, turning his body to face me fully. “Because if you do, I’ll stay.”

“Why are you doing this, Dmitriy?” I ask, a hint of urgency sneaking into my tone. “Why won’t you run?”

As he stares at me from across the dark room, I hold my breath. There’s something in that intense look that strips me bare. Then, as if he makes his mind up, he crosses the room in three strides, grabs my face, and puts his lips on mine.

Everything stops.

Every fucking thing.

“From the moment you entered my world,” he whispers against my tingling lips, “you turned it on its axis. I don’t understand what it is about you or why you make me feel this way. But know this, I’ll wait. I don’t care how long it’ll take. One day, my cousin will accept me into the fold. And when that day comes, you better be ready for me.”

Then he’s gone, exiting the room and blending with the shadows. Tears bead on my lashes, and I bring my fingers to my swollen lips where his kiss lingers, whispering secrets to my aching heart. I’m so confused.

I don’t get to give it any further thought because Daemon, Alaric, Ronan, and Dariana stumble into the room and draw to an abrupt halt. Eyes scanning over the walls, Daemon curses, all thoughts of the chase gone.

“Shit,” Ronan says shakily, turning in a slow circle. His eyes find mine as I tremble on the mattress. “Are you okay?”

Am I?

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